NIDA seeks strategies on smart cities

The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Isa Pantami, has stressed the need for Nigeria to restartegise on the implementation of smart cities in the country.

Speaking in Abuja as a panel chair at the ongoing Smart Cities Nigeria 2017 that has: Leveraging on technology solutions to emprove the efficiency of cities as its theme, he said the government should collaborate with stakeholders as it work to realise the dream.

He said: “Working towards realising smart cities is a must for the government in collaboration with stakeholders. However, as a developing country, with our peculiarity as a country, there is a need for us to rethink about smart cities implementation.”

According to him, there is need to explore smart technologies and infrastructure, communication technologies, platforms and Internet of Things (IoT) applications required for achieving smart cities.

“We need to know smart city fundamental infrastructure and networks requirement; safety and security issues; application of urban technologies like Geographic Information Systems (GIS), IoT, cloud computing and big data analytics and others. Also, (there is need to explore) how intelligent transport solutions can help solve transportation challenges in our cities especially traffic monitoring and efficient logistics and how these systems can be integrated seamlessly to create social and economic value.

“We need to be conscious of climate change. There is need to build a sustainable business model, our own architecture for smart initiatives and ensure the right infrastructure are available. Infrastructure, such as broadband, 5G, electricity, smart devices and agents, smart urban spaces, web-based applications, mobile technologies and e-services as well as open government data issues are crucial to achieving sustainable smart cities.

“We are, however, working diligently and partnering strategically with relevant stakeholders in the country and international development partners to ensure fundamental infrastructure is available to realise the promises of the ICT. We are also rolling out a regulatory framework for IoT-enabled applications to provide a standardised framework for smart initiatives in government to ensure data generated through smart applications are protected and centrally available for the creation of social and economic value. We would support this with the right PPP regulatory framework and guidelines to create a friendly investment environment for smart initiatives,’’ he said, adding that as a country, there is need for innovation about and ensure sustainability smart cities implementation.

He said he had inaugurated two committees to fast-track the implementation of the National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to ensure data/information exchange within and outside the country is secured so that the country could earn the trust and confidence of people and the international community in using Nigerian cyberspace and e-services generated through smart cities.